Pattern of Vitamin D among Pakistani Pregnant Women

• Published in: Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons--Pakistan Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 233 - 237
• Main Authors: Nasir, Jamal Abdul, Imran, Muhammad, Zaidi, Syed Arif Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pakistan College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan 01.03.2018
• Subjects: Dietary supplements; Health aspects; Nutritional aspects; Pregnant women; Risk factors; Vitamin D deficiency; Pakistan
• ISSN: 1022-386X; 1681-7168
• DOI: 10.29271/jcpsp.2018.03.233

Vitamin D deficiency is an emerging health concern around the world, highly prevalent in south Asian population, despite abundant sunlight. In Pakistan, all age groups are vulnerable to Vitamin D deficiency including pregnant women. This systematic review aimed to determine the pattern of Vitamin D deficiency among Pakistani pregnant women as well as exploring the causes and possible interventions that have had a substantial effect on improving the vitamin D level. Three databases (PubMed, Pub Get and Google Scholar), for the present review up to 2016, were used for the identification of published peer reviewed original relevant studies regarding Vitamin D deficiency among Pakistani pregnant women with the keywords Vitamin D or 25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25(OH)D in combination with pregnant women. Five studies were included for the final analysis. Vitamin D deficiency was common and highly prevalent among Pakistani pregnant women and their neonates. The main reasons for this were found to be avoiding sun exposure, quality of diet, and lower intake of calcium. Maternal vitamin D supplementation was found to be a key intervention to improve the maternal and neonatal vitamin D status. These review findings can be emerging in ensuring the adequate vitamin D level for Pakistani pregnant women during pregnancy, ultimately to achieve positive maternal and neonate's health outcomes.